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An extravaganza of sight and sound, Fantasia is Walt Disney’s masterpiece and a landmark of modern cinema

Throughout history, there have been just a handful of groundbreaking films where the soundtrack has become inextricably linked to the cinematic achievement of the film itself. There is perhaps no greater example of this marriage than Walt Disney’s 1940 masterpiece, Fantasia.

The film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music.

Disney animators set pictures to Western classical music as Leopold Stokowski conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra. ‘The Sorcerer's Apprentice’ features Mickey Mouse as an aspiring magician who oversteps his limits. ‘The Rite of Spring’ tells the story of evolution, from single-celled animals to the death of the dinosaurs. ‘Dance of the Hours’ is a comic ballet performed by ostriches, hippos, elephants, and alligators. ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ and ‘Ave Maria’ set the forces of darkness and light against each other as a devilish revel is interrupted by the coming of a new day.